#especially considering some of his later iterations

[transingthoseformers]

I need the Skymegs one-sided hate sex. Skyfire is the most pissed off he's ever been in his life after seeing Megatron hit Starscream, growling 'You think it's okay to lay hands on someone just because they're smaller and weaker and you? Well, how does it feel not being the biggest one in the room?'

Meanwhile Megatron doesn't point out that Starscream has tried to kill him literally hundreds of times because he's currently getting plowed by a big, strong, self-righteous civillian build and therefore is so turned on he's blowing every fuse in his processor

Hearing you out but I need to know Skyfire's process in between yelling at Megatron and fucking Megatron here

I need to know what lead to Skyfire sticking his dick in Megatron

[runninguplenorahills]

Does it ever drive you crazy?

Because it surely drives me crazy and I’ll never get over it. Not only are the characters positioned identically and the scenes are shot in the same way (except for the fact that there’s no table in between Joyce and El), El is also wearing two iterations of what is essentially the same outfit in the scenes with Mike and Hopper while the scenes with Joyce and Mike have the same context of crafting glasses that block light, and the scenes with Mike and Benny both take place at a fast food restaurant with the serving hatch in the background. The colors yellow and red are also present to varying degrees.

Furthermore, we have the dialogue with Hop in s2/ep.3 “The Pollywog”:

EL: “[Mike] said he needs me.”

HOPPER: “I know you miss him kid, but it's too dangerous. You're the last thing he needs right now.”

And the dialogue with Mike in s4/ep.9 “The Piggyback”:

EL: “I- missed you”

MIKE: “yeah, I missed you too[…]”

And the fact that both scenes function as reconciliation between the characters after a fight. I’ve written a post on this before, so you’ll find more about this HERE

Then the dialogue with Joyce in s1/ep.7 “The Bathtub”

JOYCE: “This will keep it dark for you. Just like in your bathtub […].”

And the dialogue with Mike in s4/ep.9 “The Piggyback”:

MIKE: “Okay, so, hopefully, this blocks out any peripheral light, right?”

As mentioned before, Mike and Joyce are both crafting blackout goggles for El to use in the sensory deprivation tank here.

The scene with Benny in s1/ep.1 “The Vanishing of Will Byers” has Benny speculating about how El ended up in her current condition and although I wouldn’t draw similarities between this and the particular scene of Mike and El at the Surfer Boy Pizza, I do want to point out that this is the first time we see El in the Benny’s Burgers t-shirt. A t-shirt that gets mentioned by Mike later on during his infamous monologue.

Additionally, Benny’s Burgers is actually featured as a location in s4 for the first time since s1. I personally think this is reason to believe that s4 aimed to remind us of Benny and s1 to some extent. Which then brings me to the similarities between the aforementioned scene of Benny and El and the scene of Mike and El in s1/ep.2 “The Weirdo on Maple Street”.

Dialogue with Benny in s1/ep.1 “The Vanishing of Will Byers”:

BENNY: “My name’s Benny. Benny Hammond. See? Like this, here. I got you. Don’t worry, it’s okay. Nice to meet you, yeah. And you are? *reaches for her arm, revealing the number - El flinches and pulls her arm away* Eleven? What’s that mean? What’s it mean?”

EL: “No”

BENNY: “Well I’ll be damned, she speaks.”

Dialogue with Mike in s1/ep.2 “The Weirdo on Maple Street”.

EL: “No”

MIKE: “Oh, so you can speak.”

[…]

MIKE: “Hey uhm, I’ve never asked your name. *El shows her the number on her wrist* […] *Mike surges forward to touch it- El flinches and pulls away her arm* Sorry, I’ve just… never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What’s it mean? Eleven?”

Which is almost identical. Now, considering that Mike makes a direct reference to s1 in which he mentions not only Benny/Benny’s Burgers, but also meeting El for the first time, this similarity doesn’t seem entirely irrelevant. Especially keeping in mind that the above depicted scenes look identical, this probably functions as a way to underline that Mike is clearly lying about his feelings during his monologue to El.

Mike is consistently depicted as and paralleled to someone who takes care of El, like a guardian (e.g.:“I care for you… so much” - right after bringing a plate with food on it, etc.) and while this is far from being new information (it quite possibly has been discussed to death), I will never get over the fact that they’re constantly trying to remind us of this familial relationship during scenes that are supposed to be romantic moments between Mike and El, going all the way back to:

S1/ep.8 “The Upside Down”

MIKE: “They’ll be like your new parents. And Nancy, she’ll be like your new sister.

EL: “Will you be like my Brother?”

MIKE: “What? No, no.

EL: “Why ‘no’?”

MIKE: “Because… ‘cause it’s different.

EL: “Why?”

MIKE: “I mean, I don’t know, I guess it’s not”

[…]

MIKE: “Well…I was thinking… I don’t know… maybe we can go to the Snow Ball together”

[…]

MIKE: “I’ve never been, but I know you’re not supposed to go with your sister.”

EL: “No?”

MIKE: “I mean, you can, but it’d be really weird”

[…]

They kiss and the first thing Mike says afterwards is “Nancy”

[originalwinnerfanfish]

Well, I did it

Megatron - I love his tfp design. Probably one of the best iteration of Megs. He is huge, heavy armoured, his face covered with scars… He doesn’t looks like an ordinary military leader who is only capable of giving orders, but like real warrior who can destroy any enemy with his bare hands.

So, in the WOF version, he definitely shares some features with Princess Burn, not only because of his might, but also because of his horns shape and dirty-dark scales (that absorbed blood of his enemies)

Starscream - Boy, I hate him so much 🤣… but in the good way, trust me! In my opinion, when the show's creators make you feel such strong negative emotions towards a villain, it means they've done a great job. Also, I think that his animation in the show was absolutely incredible, because even though he's a 3D model, he still manages to move like a 2D character, which is amazing!

I feel that in my design he still looks more like a skywing, than an icewing (which is kinda logical)

Soundwave - This one was tricky. I couldn't figure out what his mask would look like, so I just made his face a really dark color. I think Soundwave has both gifts of the nightwings, and he’s equally great at telepathy and a future vision. So he doesn't really need equipment to predict enemy movements, which makes him an ideal communicator in the WOF setting. His Laserbeak is part of the armor enchanted by Shockwave, and it might also allow him to open portals (but I'm not sure with this one)

Shockwave - My favourite evil genius. He would definitely have animus magic and mind reading. I think Shockwave is the only one who has advanced the study of magic so far, precisely because he combined it with scientific knowledge and created safer methods of using it, that don't damage the mind. It's like if a Mastermind got animus magic in books.

I also like to think that he didn't heal the damaged part of his face just so that his enemies would fear him more)

Dreadwing - This man deserved better! It's really a shame that he was removed from the show so quickly due to financial problems. It would be great if his arc got a proper conclusion in season 3.

Considering that I didn't want to make him a hybrid, it was difficult to choose a suitable color palette. So let’s just say, that I tried my best😅

I don’t think that he would have any nightwing powers, but honestly it doesn’t even matter - this guy can make a bombs, what else does he need to be cool

Arachnid - Did anyone even doubt that she would be a hivewing? Damn, she even got her own “Othermind” virus. Her design was the easiest to work with - just a little poisonous ass (suspiciously similar to Maleficent).

Just like Starscream, I hate her, but in a good way. She's one of the creepiest characters in the entire series, who’s acting like a fucking heartless monster, especially with Arcee, but even so, there's always was something mesmerizing about her. I just really like strong female villains

Knockout - Wery bright and charismatic guy, definitely one of my fav cons!

I tried to draw him as handsome as possible. Worked a lot on the face shape and coloring, and as for me it turned out pretty nice (finally).

Most decepticons think Knockout is as stupid and lazy as all the other rainwings. And it's not like he completely disagrees with that. Of course he’s not stupid and lazy, but if it’s means less dirty work on the battlefield, well, he’ll continue act like a tipical rainwing

(I also believe that Megatron keeps him as an “art”)

Breakdown - Fun fact: "Operation Breakdown" was the very first thing I saw in this series. And it was an interesting experience for 8 year old me. Maybe that's why I'm so scared of eye gouging scenes in movies now…

I think that he didn't have any siblings initially due to his parents nature, and even after meeting Bulkhead, he felt uncomfortable among the other mudwings. And this is why he later chose the side of the decepticons. And maaaaybe because of one cute rainwing influence)

P.s.

I think that, being mostly nightwings and icewings, the decepticons are much more concerned about purity of their blood and rarely accept half-breeds into their ranks.

During the war, there were many animus dragons among decepticons, which is why they have so many artifacts that allowed teleportation and communication at a distance. But, honestly, I still can't imagine what Nemesis would look like in this AU

[tiffanys-aus-and-headcanons]

Terrible Visions

A scrambled timeline is a timeline that has proceeded much like ours, except that some particular facet has been mixed up all over the place. For example, in the scrambled timeline we will consider today, our world's fictional stories have been told by different people, and in different ways.

Bryan Lee O'Malley, in this alternate timeline, is best known as the cartoonist responsible for Homestuck, a popular comic series about a group of children who become embroiled in a cosmic-scale video game known as Sburb. Although Homestuck is probably most often associated with the cult classic Edgar Wright-directed film adaptation released in 2016, the comics themselves are highly-regarded, and the film brought a new audience to them. Netflix has commissioned an animated continuation, The Homestuck Epilogues, which is due to be released soon.

Andrew Hussie, on the other hand, is a figure you're likelier to know if you're overly online. His "MS Paint Adventures" series - most notably including Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, which is kind of like Homestuck but weirder and hornier - have firmly remained a fixture of obsessive Twitter fandom culture. It doesn't help that the best-known iteration, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, is infamous for stretching thousands of pages of meandering digressions out of a simple and focused narrative starting point. Scott Pilgrim fans have developed something of a toxic reputation, which is not entirely deserved - although of course Knives discourse is interminable, and back in the fandom's heyday there were reportedly incidents of fans assaulting each other "for being evil exes".

Scott Pilgrim fandom was very big back in the day, though, and consequently it was a nexus for other creative figures who would go on to surpass Hussie. Perhaps foremost among these is indie developer Toby Fox. He was literally living in Hussie's basement when he produced ROSEQUARTZ, a universally-beloved retro Goonies-like RPG about a human hybrid boy born to a race of gem-based aliens. He's now developing an episodic spiritual successor, RAZORQUEST, with more overtly dark themes. It revolves around an inheritance dispute among a demon-summoning family.

Other foundational figures in this timeline's internet culture include Alison Bechdel, who helped get the webcomic scene started. Although she's now more seriously acclaimed for her personal memoirs, her gaming webcomic Press Start To Dyke, which premiered in 1998, was once everywhere. It had a broad appeal, and at its height, it was common to see even straight guys sharing pages from it. Time has not been especially kind to it, though, and at this point its main legacy is test.png, a meme spawned by one of the comic's most ill-advised pages.

Then there's John C. McCrae, more often known by his pseudonym Wildbow. A prolific and reclusive author of doorstopping "web serials" - long-form fiction published online - McCrae's best-known serial is still his first, Wind, a noir superhero story set in an alternate history where capes are mostly just a subculture of unpowered vigilantes. Wind landed in a culture already rife with comic book deconstructions, like Alan Moore's 2002 graphic novel Worm Turns, but it nonetheless managed to stand out from the pack with its extensive cast of characters and its themes of coordination problems and the end of the world. Later McCrae web serials include Part (the first "Otherverse" serial; an urban fantasy story about a couple who die in a car accident and find that they have become ghosts), Tear (a "biopunk" story set in a collapsing underwater city), Warn (the controversial Wind sequel), and Play (the second "Otherverse" serial, set in a small Indiana town that helps hide a psychic girl from the CIA).

Last and perhaps least, we should discuss J. K. Rowling. Far and away the most famous of any of these authors, Rowling's name is inseparable from the YA series that she debuted with, the Luz Noceda books, which remain her one successful work. Although it was heavily derivative of older fantasy novels - like Jill Murphy's Academy For Little Witches, or Philip Pullman's Methods Of Rationality trilogy - Luz Noceda was still a monumental and unprecedented success in the publishing industry, and the film adaptations were consistent blockbusters. The final book, Luz Noceda and the Watcher of Rain, contained some allusions to a romantic relationship between Luz and her recently-redeemed associate Amity. Rowling confirmed that this was her intent in subsequent interviews and indicated that she had fought her publishers for it; the film would then go on to escalate matters slightly further.

There have been many lengthy and heated online arguments as to whether the references in the book itself constitute text or mere subtext. Whatever your stance on this discourse, a new complication has been introduced recently: although she has put out no official statement on the matter as of yet, it has become quite apparent from Rowling's shrinking network of contacts and her conspicuous silences that she is certainly TERF-sympathetic, and likely an outright TERF herself. For many, this is leading to a critical reevaluation of the social values inherent in the Luz Noceda series; others, to say the least, are holding off on that kind of reappraisal.

Anyway, Scott Pilgrim just beat Luz Noceda in a Twitter poll for Most Gay Media, and people are piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed

[eldritchneuro]

Rem

Sometimes when I write these posts, I have a fully-formed analysis in place with at least half a dozen citations. And sometimes I'm just throwing half-cooked spaghetti at the wall to see if anything coherent comes out of it.

I'm not actually going to start with the lady of the hour, though. Rather, I'm going to start with Knives. His Stampede version specifically.

You don't necessarily have to read Knives in Stampede as having incestuous desire for his brother, but as long as it is something that can easily be considered, it works to highlight a relationship that has been 'corrupted' so to speak. Knives loves his brother, but he has not been in direct contact with Vash for over a century. A century of time for was once memories of a brotherly bond to become faded, distorted and twisted in on themselves until they have become much more of an obsession then anything healthy.

(If you know anything about gothic horror, you'll know that incestuous coding as a narrative tool has been around for hundreds of years. Humans love our fucked-up little taboos, that's for sure.)

Anyways.

Consider in the manga, the way Rem is initially introduced to the story. She initially gives the impression of being fridged, just another dead lady to motivate the male main character. She's very much not that simple of course, this is Trigun, but importantly her character is only expanded upon outside of Vash's view of her much later in the story. In the early volumes she's very much your archetypal female ghost, so to speak.

And one thing about the fridged female character is that in all her iterations, she's a bit same-y. Often, the difference between 'dead mother' and 'dead sister' and 'dead girlfriend' is nigh impossible to tell without clarification from the text. And outside of some contextual clues, Rem's relationship to Vash is certainly not clarified.

Maybe I'm on to something. Or maybe I'm just primed to see this sort of stuff in media being an emotional incest survivor myself.

The role of a child in society is... somewhat tense to say the least. The idea of being wholly dependent on someone else is typically frowned upon as 'lazy', so it's not uncommon to see the sentiment that children must 'earn' their care by behaving. It's not only something you see from parents either. Often children (especially those disabled and/or nd) may subconsciously play into this sentiment themselves, where the parent becomes viewed as somewhat of a... Jesus figure is probably the best word for it. Someone who must constantly be appealed to, constantly be proud of you, even if they don't ask for it, because otherwise, why should you deserve to exist and be happy?

(I've been recently watching the Blood Blockade Battlefront anime and this sentiment from Vash is also present there too. Nightow is painfully good at writing this flavor of 'right to exist' self-deprecation)

I think this sentiment maps quite nicely to the theme of faith in Trigun as a whole as well. People need something to believe in, something to keep them going and sometimes in the search for that we turn to toxic coping mechanisms or bad role models as a result.

[confess-for-botw-totk]

Heya! To the anon who despises Revali: you're totally valid. Before someone disagrees, I'm a Revali fan and I understand why this anon doesn't like Revali. Yeah, he can be a little annoying (especially if you play the game in NoA) and is condescending towards others, but I would still like to say something. Take it as an explanation of why I understand Revali's position but not justify it... (This will be a LONG post, I apologize in advance)

You're right, Link worked his ass off to be worthy of the Master Sword, just like all other Links in history. Even if it's not explicitly shown like in SkSw, all other iterations of Link face their own challenges and adventures that will determine if he's worthy of the sword... like BotW Link. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders, the expectations and pressure of being seen/worthy of being the chosen hero, that's why he never speaks nor gives his opinion, like we're confirmed in-game in BotW. This Link was part of a lineage of knights of Hyrule, so he was trained as a knight since he was a child, of course Link would develop this silent persona when he got the sword. Who would like to listen about the likes or opinions a legend has to say? No one wants to hear their powerful, legendary hero's thoughts or fears, they want salvation, a perfect parangon of hope who is never wrong! And Link didn't have a choice but to comply (that's why he gets to bond with Zelda later).

On the other hand we have Revali: a young, lonely man who had no one. We never get to see about him besides training and fighting... no personal life, no family, no position of power... nothing. For some reason unknown, Revali began to train by himself and hone his archery skills, he wanted to be a warrior willingly, he built his reputation and talents from scratch. Unlike all of the other champions who are in some way connected to royalty (I'm counting Link here since he comes from a knight's family), he wasn't the son or familiar of the Rito's chief, he was a nobody who made himself someone. He created powerful wind magic that no other Rito ever did, he even learned how to use his bow like Hylians do (with those gigantic hands??), and... apparently, he isn't even related to the Sage of Wind from the distant past. So Revali was chosen as the Rito champion AND Vah Medoh's pilot by his own prowess. Of course, all of the champions were chosen this way, that's why even when he can be snarky, Revali still respects his fellow champions. He knows they are strong and resilient warriors. He knows the five of them, including Zelda, are going to face the Calamity, to him, they were going to be directly on the battlefield... Then there's Link... and everything changes.

Link was canonically named a champion after the other four were already selected. To Revali, who already knew his partners were Daruk, Urbosa and Mipha, people he got to see fighting, it was ludicrous that the princess of Hyrule included a simpleton who not only got a special ceremony (offered by Daruk, but still), but that also was to be the one to directly fight against the Calamity. Of course, we, the players, already know that this is how it is: the only person who can wield the Master Sword and defeat darkness is Link. But think like Revali for a second... you worked your ass off all of your life to prove to yourself that you're a great warrior, crafted an aerial technique impossible to your kind, that you're so skilled that you got to be selected by the princess herself as a champion who will save Hyrule, who also, is considered to be as powerful and skilled as his fellow companions who are gifted warriors themselves... only to be reduced to simple support in the back for the guy with the magic sword. I mean, looking things in Revali's point of view, it looks bad.

Of course, Revali takes the wrong path and decides to demean Link instead of lending him a hand (wing). His ego is struck, and his pride would never allow him to just accept Link as the main warrior. That's the entire point of the character. Revali's development tends to be dismissed because he acts condescendingly even in death, but the point is that he was wrong. In life, after all the time the four champions, along Link and Zelda, passed, he couldn't admit that Link was worthy. Revali's pride wouldn't even let him ask for help on his last moments... It's obvious that he got to see Link in action multiple times, it's obvious that he knew Link was skilled and powerful. But his pride never allowed him to voice it. Not until Link defeats Windblight Ganon.

I like the parallel between Link and Revali: one chose to fight, the other was obliged to. Link has a marked destiny, he has the hero's spirit so he must fight against Ganon. Revali was someone without a destiny, he could have been anything he wanted... a vendor, musician, archeologist... but he chose to be a warrior, he chose to fight the Calamity. I think that's pretty neat. 💙💚

_*_

[anyplaceisparadise]

The Use of Colour in Gladiator II: Blue

We're getting down to it! This is the last real post in this series, but I'll do a little honourable mentions for other little used colours.

Here’s my copy and paste from previous iterations of this: I referred quite a bit to some of my favourite books, The World According to Colour: A Cultural History by James Fox, The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St. Clair, and Emperor of Rome and SPQR by Mary Beard while working on this. I highly recommend all of them! These are definitely not mind blowing ideas here, just stuff that came to me because this movie has given me a severe case of brain rot. If you disagree, that’s cool. If you’ve mentioned any of this before, I love that we’re on the same wavelength. If you think this is ridiculous and I’ve gone off the deep end, you are correct.

Here are previous posts: White Yellow Purple Brown Black Pt. 1 Black Pt. 2 Red Green Honourable Mentions

So for blue, I have one main idea/theory and another that I thought of recently but it's not as strong imo. I've added the second theory at the end.

In Gladiator II, blue can represent transparency.

As Kassia St. Clair notes, "Blues have form in helping people to express matters of the spirit" (The Secret Lives of Colour, Kassia St. Clair, pg. 204). And with that being said, I think blue is representative of an openness that is separate from the honesty shown in the use of white throughout the film.

Not many characters wear blue in the film. But when they do, characters wear blue when they are displaying a transparency about their very being, rather than an honesty about their intentions or motivations.

For example:

It's a dark scene, yes, but if you look closely, Lucilla is wearing a blue shawl (to my eyes at least) when the plot is revealed. Her honesty regarding the plot can be seen in the white of her dress, but the transparency of the blue shawl shows that the plot is central to Lucilla's very being. She is the daughter of Marcus Aurelius; her literal bloodline is the whole point of the plot and she can't get away from that. She will always be the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and she will always be a threat to the twins because of who she is. That all comes out in this scene.

She also wears a blue dress when she meets with Lucius for the first time in years. Their connection is revealed here. Being a mother and in particular, being his mother, is a major part of Lucilla's characterization. Her openness with Lucius is another show of transparency, especially considering that their relationship has historically been shrouded in secrecy.

Caracalla also wears blue, though his is arguably a blue-ish green (with green representing a natural state of being, but that's for another post).

In this scene, we see him yelling for Acacius' death, spit flying from his mouth, his anger and tendency for violence and a desire for revenge or retribution on display. For all of the times we see them at the games, Caracalla has been quite restrained when compared to his actions in this scene. He absolutely cheers for violence in the past but he's not the only one to do so, and he leaps from his chair to see the action, but again he is not alone in doing so, Geta does it too. In the first games he rather reverently, quietly even, calls for blood, whereas here he is yelling for the guards to kill Acacius. It's here that his true nature becomes transparent: angry, violent, hurt, and vengeful.

He displays further transparency later on in the same outfit:

At the end of the day Caracalla is a scared boy, literally hiding under tables as his world comes crashing down around him. The idea of an emperor does not coincide with what we see here but it is Caracalla at his core. In the act of hiding we can see him for what he truly is here: scared, weak, petulant, in the blue outfit.

We also see his true self once Macrinus gets him out from under the table. He sounds miserable when he talks about how he never has anything to himself, and that Geta has always over shadowed him. He also grows anxious and angry when Macrinus hints that Geta will blame him for the riots. His insecurity, pain, and weakness as an emperor is transparent.

Macrinus wears blue as well.

He wears a white patterned outfit with a blue robe when he goes to take Thraex's house. He displays transparency here: we see that Macrinus is a man that gets what he wants and more importantly, he is a man that gets what is owed to him. His scheming nature is also displayed clearly when he asks Thraex for information about the coup plot.

Later on, and it is difficult to tell in this scene, but I am quite sure he wears the same blue shawl. He shows transparency here in two ways: for the twins and Geta in particular, he appears as a trustworthy friend. He shows that he is helpful, transparently showing them that he is good to have on their side. But to us he is showing transparency in the duplicitous way he throws Acacius and Lucilla under the bus, the way he makes Thraex come along for the ride, and the way he places himself as a close ally for the twins. His actions may seem sneaky and advantageous and they are. But that's who Macrinus is. He is a man that has worked his way from the bottom to the top and he knows how to play the game of Roman politics. His true self peeks out here, but only to the audience.

Macrinus also wears blue in his final scenes.

The use of blue shows that his full plan is open and it finally becomes open to the one person that stands in his way, Lucius. He is fully transparent now, there is no more hiding his intentions for the throne, and he is no longer hiding behind any pretences about his role. This is who Macrinus is at his very core: a schemer (and I don't mean that negatively), a leader, and an entrepreneur.

So, blue representing transparency is my main theory. Here is my secondary theory: blue can also be used to show different aspects of religion.

I'll go back to each example, ignoring the idea of transparency.

In both scenes, Lucilla represents mothers. In the first, she can be seen as the mother of Rome, while in the second, she is seen as a literal mother- of Lucius. This coincides with the use of blue often used to depict the Virgin Mary. Kassia St. Clair writes about the 1130-40s construction of Saint-Denis Abbey, "At around the same time, the Virgin was increasingly depicted wearing bright blue robes- previously she had usually been shown in dark colours that conveyed her mourning for the death of her son" (The Secret Lives of Colour, pg. 180).

When Caracalla wears blue, he is showing another aspect of religion: devotion.

It is Geta wearing white that displays godliness, but it is Caracalla that basks in his words, his eyes closed as he sways like he is truly impacted by Geta's connection to the gods. He is Geta's biggest follower, and we see his pain at being reprimanded by Geta when he hides under the table. They have a complicated relationship (as Caracalla rants to Macrinus), but who else does Caracalla have but Geta?

When Macrinus wears blue, he is representing godliness. This ties into the idea I expressed in the post on the colour white, where Macrinus takes over Geta's role for Caracalla while wearing a white robe.

He takes over Geta's role as emperor here as well. Caracalla is still sole emperor but it is Macrinus that is running the show. He later plays god by killing Caracalla.

With all that being said, I think this theory is a bit weak. I still prefer the transparency theory over this one, but I thought I would add it in for fun anyway.

And that's really it! I think I've got all the major colours used in the film, but like I said, I do plan on doing a smaller post of other little used colours that I've mentioned but haven't really gotten into.

Thanks for reading!

[qoldenskies]

Hi, this is a silly question, but welp. Do you think publishing new content on ao3 pays off? I feel like the fandom is dying a bit and I don't know if it's worth writing ff :((

maybe this is just my personal opinion because i wasnt here at the height of the hype especially in 2022 (i watched the show in march 2024 and got into the fandom in june), but the rise fandom is not dying, dont worry.

there are posts here that frequently get thousands of notes, sometimes within days, fics that have gotten pretty popular that are RECENT, a whole culture of aus and events and zines that are still running.

ive been in dying fandoms (the pjo book fandom is so dead yall its joever) and in fandoms that were never even big in the first place (i was in a niche pokemon webcomic community that had upwards of maybe like 40 people active in its discord server, and most of the adults there were republicans or child groomers or usually both .... i know hell, i was there for like four years. trust me) and i havent been in a community as big as rise's since liiike. 2019, i think!

and regardless of any new official content coming out, its also good to note that there are a lot of active and dedicated tmnt fans who make official content for other, much older iterations too, and ive noticed a lot of the people who do are older which is definitely a good thing. fandoms at the peak of their hype are usually INSANELY preteen-infested and it's not a good environment i think should be desired. the discourse i see going around on tiktok right now is deranged but its not new by any means. i REFUSE to be a boomer because im only 18 and i know what its like to be 12, but i do not desire nor envy that kind of fame BAHFHDHGH

but like still. point i was getting to is that even if its not at its peak of popularity i dont think the fandom will be dying any time soon and it's not something to be afraid of. i can cite several fics that did wonderfully in numbers (although i dont recommend basing quality off that, its just important to note) despite being recent and have had the fandom in a chokehold as of late. canary continuity could probably count as one of those considering how crazy it was around november or so..... i miss november :')

i think we all kind of see ourselves like drops of water in a bucket and hesitate to come in so strong because we underestimate the importance of our own voices, especially because fandom attracts very socially anxious people, but a lot of the anxiety about engagement can be mitigated by engaging yourself and being the change you want to see! this also counts with creating content-- the thing about ao3 is that you can have completely different audiences for different fics unlike other platforms from what i've seen, so something may flop at first and then do really well later, or even take a while to kick off (cvd and coming undone have been getting some love lately ive noticed... i keep telling myself i'll continue them and then forgetting)

i'd say its definitely worth a shot to post, because ive noticed that ao3 comment sections are overwhelmingly positive in most cases. ive gotten some passive-aggressive or pushy comments before (usually out of confusion because they werent paying attention, which isnt my fault, or because theyre excited and what to see more, which i still do find flattering) but its always been in a sea of a lot of really wonderful people, which has been really helpful because i have disabling anxiety and constantly doubt myself haha.

i think the advice i see a lot of "write for yourself" is kind of unhelpful and doesn't get to the root of the problem because i think it takes away from the fact that art is such a deeply social part of human expression, and we create it to share it,,, i think a better way to put it is that you should write self-indulgently, and there's always a good chance of finding your people by the time you're finished-- i've connected with a lot of people with VERY similar tastes to me because of my writing and it's been miraculous because as great as my other friends are, their interests vary wildly from mine LOL. its worth it even if you dont kick off immediately!!! and of course i urge everyone to engage with artists and writers whenever you can, it means the world to them!!

[izavella21]

This book. This book right here. I love it. I love it a lot. Here are some reasons why:

The narration style. I remember when I first read this book, there were so many moments where I'd read a line and think "so relatable". Tori, why are you so relatable?

Tori and Charlie's relationship. I think it's not that common to see a wholesome sibling relationship, so I'm glad that was included in this book. (Also, I don't know if it's just me, but I feel that we don't really see that a lot in Heartstopper)

Tori and Charlie both saw the signs of each other's decline in mental health, and regret never doing anything about it. And they both assure each other that despite the mental health struggles, and despite not doing anything about each other's mental health struggles, they still love each other and care about each other.

There's a scene where Lucas gives Tori a can of Sprite, and Tori mentally notes that it isn’t the drink she likes. Later in the book, Micheal gives Tori diet lemonade, which is the drink she likes. And the beats of these two scenes are very similar.

Also, after Lucas gives Tori the sprite, she asks him about the books he has, and one of them is The Great Gatsby. When Tori asks him what’s it about, he answers “It’s about someone who's in love with a dream." You don't say...

(Basically, I think those two scenes are meant to show that Lucas is in love with idea of Tori, while Michael loves Tori as she is. Lucas goes about his relationship with Tori in the "wrong" way, while Michael goes about it in the "right" way)

The way Tori’s depression was handled felt so…candid for lack of a better term. I feel that depression and suicidal thoughts/ideation is something that is tricky to get right. I think Solitaire is a good depiction of depression. A believable one at least. One where you're able to empathize with the character.

Michael Holden. Just, Michael Holden.

I don't know about others, but I've always read Tori and Micheal's relationship as queerplatonic. You never see that in fiction, so I appreciate it.

The story takes place in winter, and there are so many moments when Micheal shows up in a t-shirt, or otherwise light clothing, and Tori wonders at various points if he’s a human furnace.

Meanwhile, there are multiple lines where Tori is described as a “ghost” or as “cold”.

Nick Nelson beating up Ben Hope. Do I condone violence? No. Do I condone violence towards Ben Hope by Nick Nelson? Absolutely.

The scene where Tori's not having a good day, and Michael comes over to her house to spend time with her so that she isn't alone. In their phone conversation before that, Michael says that Tori reminds him of "an old person who lives alone, like, with cats and daytime television." Michael also seems like the type of person who would keep old people company.

The scene where Tori realizes Michael wanted to invite her to one of his races, a really important one at that, and the minute she realizes this, she instantly books it to the rink. She wasn't planning on doing anything that day, but the minute she learned that Michael had something important going on, she dropped everything to be there.

I think every scene focused on Tori and Micheal is amazing.

To this day, it amazes me that Alice Oseman wrote and published this book at the age of SEVENTEEN!

There was the right balance between dark and mature elements and more wholesome ones. I'd say that's the case for all of Alice Oseman's work, but especially Solitaire, which is considered the darkest. I feel that's a tricky balance to strike, and I felt that Solitaire, even the original iteration, strikes that balance well.

This book has short chapters, and I think that makes it easy to read.

I love the audiobook. I mean the old audiobook narrated by Jayne Entwistle. I've listened to the new one narrated Jenny Walser, and it's good, but I think I prefer the old one. It's so pleasant to the ears. I love her voice.

Thank you for reading!

[elencelebrindal]

5 years later | Honest Opinion - Pegasus Seiya

Here we are! I said I was going to revise this series with my updated outlook on things, and I'm starting off with the Bronze Saints this time around.

I won't be giving scores by number, though. I feel like it's not an accurate representation of my thoughts on these characters anymore.

Also, I WILL NOT be including Saint Seiya Omega or the Netflix series. I dislike the first one and hate the second, so I won't be making time to write new posts about them. As far as the movie is concerned, I'm still deciding, but it would be an overall negative succession of posts so I may avoid it as well.

Let's start now, shall we?

Overall opinion on him: very low

I didn't change my opinion much on him compared to a few years ago, but I do have something to say about it. He's not a bad character per se; Seiya suffers a lot from the series itself having him as the "absolute" protagonist. I know, I know. The show is called Saint Seiya, so of course he has to be the absolute protagonist, but it's kinda done in a way that doesn't put him in a good light.

Let me explain.

Seiya is not the best of the main group in many different ways. His personality is not showcased well, which affects greatly the way his character can be perceived. I have no issue with characters being portrayed as incredibly self-assured, or arrogant, but Seiya is not the type that should be presented as such. They try to portray him as the great hero who always saves the day at the end of everything, but this representation falls short because of how insufferable he appear be during the process. In this particular setting, a protagonist this strong should appear way more noble and overall likeable; there are other types of content where protagonists can be completely different, some of which I consume myself, but Saint Seiya has the kind of setting, atmosphere, and story that doesn't benefit from someone like Seiya, who oftentimes has to be pushed in the right direction rather than being able to understand it himself after so long.

His shenanigans are something that I'm 50/50 about; they make me cringe a lot, especially when Seiya does something exceptionally stupid or says something completely out of this world, but on the other hand some funny moments are not unwelcome even in this kind of series. Some lighthearted interactions are still needed, the problem is that Seiya takes them a bit too far.

What I dislike the most, which is something that hasn't changed from my first iteration of this series, is the fact he gets all recognition and power not only before anyone else, but in a way that puts his companions in shadow. Seiya is, objectively speaking, not the strongest of the main group, and neither he's the best. He is extremely flawed in behavior and discipline, reaching an acceptable level of them way too later on in the series, and his actual strength doesn't feel at all on the same page of the comments made about him by other characters. Am I supposed to believe that, just because he's able to don cloths that aren't his own, he's stronger than anyone else? Most of the times he wears a God Cloth, with few exceptions (because there are moments in which it actually felt like he deserved to don it) it's just some plot-driven event that doesn't take into account his actual accomplishments. It doesn't feel authentic, it feels incredibly artificial and undeserved.

The awakening of his Seventh Sense at the second temple also doesn't sit right with me; considering Seiya's character, behavior, and development so far, it felt completely out of place and only something that happened because the plot armor around him pushed it forward.

In the Hades Chapter, unfortunately, while Seiya has undoubtedly reached new levels of power and refined his strength, his behavior still doesn't reflect that of a Saint of the caliber he should be. His impulsivity and naivety caused more damage than good, and while I don't condemn him for the incredulity and refusal to accept Shun's transformation into Hades, he still appeared far more childish and weaker than he should have.

He does have a redeeming quality, which is his unwaivering devotion to Athena, something he gains throughout the series and becomes stronger with time, but that's about it. Seiya has a faulty, weak story and development that hindered characters around him as well: Athena being, by plot, so blatant in her favoritism towards him ruins the role she's supposed to have regarding all the other Saints, making them fall in the background despite their importance and own devotion for her; Shaina's character lost a lot when Seiya looked at her face, becoming a weaker version of herself due to his already lacking story, and something similar happened with Marin along the way. Seiya is so bad on his own that characters who are deeply tangled with him end up sufferring from it.

I loved how he was presented in the Italian dub; he was given exceptional lines, straight up quotes from classic authors like Dante Alighieri, Ugo Foscolo, and Giacomo Leopardi.

A questo punto non mi rimane che accettare la sfida, vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole. Divina Commedia: «Vuolsi così colà dove si puote | ciò che si vuole»

A pretty strong example of how many good things have been done for his character in our dub, and one that makes me even more upset at how lackluster he is.

At the end of the day, Seiya is a devoted yet pretentious young man who wins far too much and far too easily for the challenges he faces and for the writing he has. It came to the point of me actively cheering for some of the enemies facing him, particularly Alberich, because why would you make a character that's supposed to have matured way more at that point (both mentally and in terms of strength) fall for his tricks so easily?

Seiya is frustrating to watch. He runs blindly into anything regardless of what other characters have to say about it - and many times the others end up being right, with Seiya saving himself only thanks to his plot armor - he keeps being wrong about too many things for being a protagonist of such caliber, and there are far too numerous instances where the plot itself is the only reason he's settled down.

Seiya wants to be too much, is allowed to be too much, and in the end he feels like he's nothing. I never liked Seiya; my very first impression of him wasn't positive, my second one was the same, and the one I have now remains unchanged.

Moving to Legend of Sanctuary, my opinion is exactly the same as the one I had a few years ago. The movie gave him no redeeming qualities, making him worse rather than better, and that's about the length I will write about this. His characterization was messed up and his role was far too inflated compared to everyone else in the movie; a protagonist that takes the merits, the easy win, and the freaking goddess that's supposed to care for ALL of her Saints. No balance whatsoever considering shortened context of the movie.

I personally think he could have been written a lot better. Many of his flaws are salvageable by actually allowing him to grow rather than just giving the impression he matured, and most of his characterization should have been avoided entirely in light of his central role in the entire series. I don't hate Seiya to the point of willingly ignoring his character, but my dislike for him is far too deeply rooted for it to change.

[enigma2meagain]

RWBY Relic Pieces in Volume 1, Symbolism of the Pieces, and How It Ties To the Broader Narrative.

Did a quick searchup on the symbolism of chess pieces, and taking what I saw into consideration (note that this is very abridged, and possibly not entirely correct):

CRDL and the Black Bishop

Bishops are representative of religion, as well as spirituality, morality, and wisdom, and a direct reference to Cardin's mythological reference, the Cardinal of Winchester. In regards to the broader narrative that RWBY sets up, he can be considered V1's partial representation of the institution of Huntsmen, more specifically the deeply flawed and darker side standing opposite to the better/neutral aspects of Huntsmen that RWBY/JNPR represent, due to being a racist bully who stands against Grimm, yet also willfully persecutes and harms the people he's supposed to fight for, such as minority groups like Faunus and (given Jaune at this point is basically a civilian in huntsmen's clothing and training wheels) the people depending on the circumstances. Also acts as a form of foreshadowing to the other deeply flawed or outright bad huntsmen we'd come to see later in the series, as well as highlighting the lack of wisdom and morality that can blight the institutions that Huntsmen are supposed to be, represent and protect.

The Black pieces in chess always move second, which highlights how the Huntsmen are a highly reactive organization, and how this severely limits their ability to truly tackle the bigger problems regarding threats like the Grimm, Salem, society's deep internal problems, and in the bigger picture, Ozpin's divine mission.

JNPR and the White Rook

Rooks are representative of the land, being symbolic of the fortress that guards a city or land and its royalty, and how they essentially "guard" the other pieces, as well as representing stability. The majority of JNPR come from civilians compared to the likes of RWBY, with this becoming completely the case after Pyrrha's death and Oscar's inclusion, and they're shown consistently throughout the series as having the strongest connections to civilians on a personal level. They also frequently as the bedrock and stabilizing influence, through Jaune, Nora and Ren's friendships and roles as supporting characters. Being white pieces also highlights how as time goes on, they would develop an increasingly proactive role through the questioning of the narrative told to them by the metaphorical "royals" (in this case, Ozpin's secret circle) and the latter's failure to actually protect them.

This is especially notable in regards to Jaune, Nora, and from a story perspective Ren, given how the former consistently questions Ozpin and his inner circle's shadier actions throughout most of V4 - V8, and Nora and Ren were failed miserably and made orphans due to the lack of huntsmen and the society around them failing to protect them, while putting them into a situation where their only recourse is to become part of the system that failed them.

RWBY and the White Knight

Knight pieces are representative of the medieval military, fitting given the status of Huntsmen, as well as being considered adventurous, valorous, and unpredictable due to their unique fighting style allowing them a level of unpredictability that other pieces don't have, fitting of how RWBY are the main proactive force to pushing Ozpin and the true nature of the secret war against Salem out into uncharted territory, forcing them to actually change and grow.

Knights are also often historically drawn from nobility, much like how every major character in RWBY has some kind of tie to Remnant's most illustrious groups or some kind of major player (Ruby and Yang being part of major Huntsmen lineages, Weiss being a rich heiress to the most powerful corporation in the world, and Blake being effectively the Princess of the Faunus, as well as having ties to the most prominent civil rights activists and movements in all iterations of the White Fang).

Much like JNPR, they are far more proactive compared to the royals they serve, actively pushing the latter outside their comfort zone in a two-pronged attack alongside JNPR, but the series also strives to highlight and deconstruct the messier aspects of their relationship as huntsmen (and thus a form of warrior caste/mercenary, with the following tension in that relationship with the people they are trying to protect) and how the unpredictable nature of their changes results in as much positive and messier forms of change, for better or worse.

This got way longer than I thought it would.

[catflowerqueen]

You know what? I’ll just go ahead and outline my thoughts on why I think getting called “her father’s daughter” could be a potentially devastating insult for someone—likely an enemy—to call Earth.

Again: This is not me saying I think any of this is necessarily true of her character, just that recent events and how certain actions she’s been taking lately could be seen, especially from an outsider’s or enemy’s perspective (at least—her actions given what I’ve gleaned from summaries and what others have said about what’s been going down).

The Creator takes a forcible approach to changing things to fit the worldview he desires. And when people no longer fit that worldview? When the façade cracks and people refuse to play along with his vision? He disavows them. Throws them away.

And… what did Earth do to Nexus? Before they even directly attacked her, and it was completely reasonable of her to feel the need to step back a bit since her actual life was now in danger?

She disavowed them. She threw them away.

Nexus was too caught up in their grief and their very real problems, was no longer being the doting older sibling, said a few mean things about her not being a real therapist—which she’d already said early on that she didn’t even want for that to be her role in the family, before going back on that for some reason later on—and was no longer playing the role she wanted and was used to. Nexus was no longer in a stable headspace to clean up everyone’s messes, and was, apparently, supposed to be “more mature” than Lunar when it came to dealing with trauma and people who hurt them, their family, and trillions of uninvolved innocents—even though Nexus has never had their very real traumas addressed or given aid for or had the chance to heal the way the rest of their siblings have—so when they finally, inevitably broke under the grief and pressure?

Earth didn’t like that, and went by the Creator’s example of dropping the façade of care and throwing them away. And then immediately switching her attention over to something supposedly "better" in the current iteration of Moon.

…Though, at least she was different in that, at one time, she did care about Nexus, while the Creator never cared about her. But that also just might make the pain worse. Because it is one thing to learn that you were never loved at all, and the whole thing was just a lie or a mask someone was using to get what they wanted. To learn that you were always just a tool, or a means to an end.

It is another thing entirely to learn that the love existed, but was shallow and conditional and depended on you lying and putting on a pleasant mask that hid your pain. A mask that only you needed to wear—because your position has always been the scapegoat, and everyone else was already good enough/fulfilled enough in their assigned roles to never even ponder stepping out of them to see if they would be happier doing something different/their assigned roles included messing up and making mistakes or acting "childish" or "spoiled" as a matter of course.

And, on the note of assigned roles…honestly, as others have said, Nexus never should have been considered the older brother to begin with—to any of their siblings—since they were younger than her. And younger than Lunar, by certain metrics, since even though Lunar technically was “reborn,” they didn’t have to contend with any memory gaps and just picked right back up where they left off. To the point that it could be argued they didn’t even “die” so much as just get put in a coma for a long time, especially with how nanomachines were and are implied to work in the TSAMS universe.

…Anyways…

This ended up a bit harsher toward Earth than I’d intended (probably because I decided to stay up and write this after I should have been in bed and asleep), and is probably meaner toward her character than she actually deserves… But, as I said, this is an exploration of why calling Earth "her father's daughter" would be the sort of insult an enemy would sling at her. One of the ones who like to pick at sore spots, use psychological torment, and twist things like memories and actions around to make them appear more sinister than they were in reality.

Do I think Earth reacted badly, and should have handled the situation better? Especially since she had tried to put herself in the role of a therapist? Absolutely I do. Do I think there was any sort of “evil machinations” or deeper meaning behind her actions on par with why the Creator tried to uphold that genial façade for so long? Absolutely not.

I genuinely think she was just overreacting/mishandled the situation/lashed out in her own sense of anger and sadness, and is now just doubling down with how crazy things have still been for her family lately. Especially now that there is a “new” Moon to deal with and Nexus is both out of sight and out of mind... as well as possibly genuinely out of her reach, both physically and emotionally. And she also might not want to reconcile given the whole “they almost killed me” thing. Which… yeah, after that point it is fair that she would be upset and angry and want some physical distance, and I wouldn't blame her for not forgiving Nexus for that specific thing.

It would have been fair for her to want some physical distance after their earlier harsh words, too… it’s just that isn’t what she said she was doing. Had she said/expressed by her actions something to the tune of “I need to take a step back from this for my own mental health so I can have some space to process,” it would have been fine. But she didn’t. She and Lunar immediately jumped to what was essentially disownment, and then didn’t clarify in the next lore video that those were just the harsh words they were saying in the heat of the moment and that what they really meant was they were upset and needed their own mental health breaks/weren't equipped to deal with the severity of the situation.

…Honestly, though, with Lunar it hurts… not exactly less, but at least in a different way when it comes to how they handled things, because they’d always been combative toward Nexus. The only time I remember them genuinely expressing concern or love for them as a sibling was after the daycare got exploded thanks to Ruin during the second October takeover--and that wasn't even expressed directly to Nexus--and then when Nexus and Sun found their way back. Yes, they did run immediately for a hug from Nexus after being rebuilt and getting rescued by Puppet… but then they immediately admitted it was because they’d briefly forgotten that Nexus was “New Moon,” not the original one.

So while their reaction to this entire situation was and is still massively disappointing, I can’t really say it was too out of character for them. At least not the same way it was coming from Earth.

…Hope this made at least some sort of sense.

[madamegemknight]

How about MOTU hot takes? From any iteration (the 80s cartoon, the comics, the cgi reboot, the other serious reboot)

rubs my hands together maniacally. boy oh boy crispy you are ENABLING me here we go >:3

The 1987 movie really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It's not great, don't get me wrong, but the people who made it were clearly passionate about what they were doing and it's a fun (if somewhat aggravating at points) ride. Dolph Lundgren is a good He-Man who understands that the character is just as much about his heart as he is his muscles, the way it and the Power Tour serve as sister experiences to each other with their incorporation of music and Earth storylines is fascinating to examine, and while Julie's subplot about her dead parents is utterly pointless, I think Kevin and Julie are two genuinely likable characters who deserve a second chance in the grander scheme of things.

The Greatest Show on Eternia is the worst episode of the Filmation series and should have never been made, but the way Masters of The Multiverse chose to "address" it was immature, childish, and nearly tipped the comic into edgelord territory for me. If something is bad, you should take the time to figure out what went wrong, then try and fix it - you shouldn't murder the only tolerable character in that episode and then have an aside about how the Eternian Circus is being thrown into chaos because of that murder that does nothing to progress the overall plot!!! wadda heck!!!!

CGI!Krass did literally nothing wrong. She was a deeply traumatized kid who was absolutely correct regarding pretty much everything (especially wanting to guard the Tiger Tribe instead of running off and ignoring it forever like Adam did, considering the later reveal that the Dark Masters kidnapped Justine), and the fact that the show is more willing to blame her flawed behavior on "evil rock that makes you evil in her helmet" than acknowledge she watched her parents die and literally cannot be in enclosed spaces without Adam as a result is legitimately disgusting. CGI tries so hard to have their cake and eat it too that they end up portraying Krass as in the wrong for wanting things to stay the same with Adam while ALSO establishing in one of the tie-in books that if she'd never met Adam she would have never even partially recovered from her trauma.

Speaking of which, considering that this IS apparently a hot take outside of my own little circle of incredibly cool and correct mutuals: CGI Season 3 is bad. It is so bad it makes the flaws of the previous two seasons, which I could mostly ignore up until that point, painfully obvious. It is genuinely upsetting to me that a series where the SOLE SURVIVOR OF A GENOCIDE BRAINWASHED INTO BELIEVING THE PROPAGANDA HE WAS FED ABOUT THE COLONIZATION OF HIS PEOPLE is made into a villain will be some kid's introduction to MOTU, ESPECIALLY considering how tolerant and accepting the Filmation series was.

Orko is a good character and plays a vital role in the franchise overall! Wow yeah it's weird to remember how that used to be a hot take in any non-tumblr MOTU fan community until like...2021. Crazy that huh.

Maybe not a hot take per se, but I don't personally think that Trollans have that different of a lifespan/age rage from Eternians. As far as I'm aware, the only implication of that being true is from the UK comics, and even there it's said that "it has been suggested" that Orko is over 500, not that he is - and this is also the same comic that said that nobody knows what Trolla is like, something that is patently not true, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe the UK comics have some slightly incorrect information and possibly shouldn't be blindly trusted when determining major factors about a character! There are several times in the Filmation series that he either flirts with or shows a very clear attraction to adult Eternians (something that would be Weird if he was aging at a different rate than an Eternian), and while he does call Adam "kid" when they first meet, that's just how Orko talks - he says "atta boy" unironically for crying out loud. I have always envisioned Orko being around the same age as Adam, if a little bit younger, and while Trollans probably do age at a different rate on account of being a different species, it's probably not to that extreme of a difference otherwise it would have been mentioned elsewhere.

Netflix She-Ra is not special for having Adora start out as a brainwashed soldier who has a crisis over realizing she's been fed imperialist/fascist propaganda her entire life. That is literally the plot of The Secret of The Sword, which was released in 1985. I love Netflix She-Ra dearly and always will, as without it I would have never become a fan of MOTU in the first place, but head in my hands if someone calls it bold and innovative for doing things that the OG series did back in the 80s one more time, I am gonna wind up on the evening news 🙃

[diviningrodtv]

Oh yeah, NSH Time.

I've been holding this post back for like a week😅

I absolutely love how NSH came out and I think he's currently my favourite rain world model that I've done! (Sorry Pebbles, I'm going to upgrade you later anyway :]

I also made his scarf easily removable so you can see how the stripes aren't just on his head! The stripes and his irises also glow, but a bit brighter than the areas on Five Rotten Pebbles.

His antennae are pretty similar to how I did Sliver's, especially considering I did his first! XD They're separated from his head a bit.

Also if you've noticed in my art that his eyes are the exact same as in the model here, that's because they are! I tried finding a way to draw them how I usually might, but I just couldn't get the same vibe! So I said, "Fuck it!" and I've been drawing over his model ever since XD

NSH is also who I used to make the "umbilical arm" model! So if you saw those posts, that's why the textures are all messed up!

And here it is in all it's glory!

It's mostly made of ball joints with a flexible joint attached to the back. The last segment also twists just like your forearm bones!

Also..... lore shit below cause I have, plans™ so-

If you don't want to know why NSH is acting strange on my blog yet, read no further!

(there's also some downpour spoilers, and some other disturbing things)

*slaps top of can* This bad boy can fit so much fucking insanity in him. (cw: self-harm yeah you heard me)

If you haven't figured it out already (I did drop hints :) NSH's structure is damaged! His legs are giving out because a group of scavengers thought it would be funny to transport all of their explosives at once.

So he's in a bit of a pickle!

This is when Looks to the Moon and Five Pebbles' communication tower is repaired! During their first conversation in a very long time, NSH finds out about good ol' Hunter long legs, and is rightfully distraught! He feels like a total failure, that he wasn't experienced enough to properly create his messenger.

That's what this whole post was about!

But, experience is something that can be gained.

NSH figured if Five Pebbles was able to leave his can, then he should be able to as well, but that requires solving the three problems I mentioned in the Five Rotten Pebbles post:

The self-genome modification barrier,

A general lack of puppet central brain matter, and

No material processing within the puppet.

I'll talk about my umbilical lore for this AU here since it's relevant.

Either the "cord" or the "arm" can be disconnected, but not both. This is for ease of repair by administrators. Disconnecting them both would leave the unfortunate Iterator fully functional. Although, they would be blind in the visible spectrum (apart from overseers), unable to speak directly to someone in their chamber, and would otherwise have their workflow be severely impaired. They would effectively be trapped in their own head.

NSH realised that even if the barriers existed, they could still have the intentions, to break them. So what would happen, if he broke one? Not by writing it out of his system, Five Pebbles already proved how risky that method was, but instead by setting his actions in motion faster than any barrier could stop them? This was something to test, and wasn't that what Iterators were built to do anyway?

Umbilicals can only be disconnected by administrators, but what if he were to do it anyway? He needed to leave his can after all, it wouldn't be much of a loss if he was stuck on the floor of his chamber or floating aimlessly in zero gravity for a while.....

So what if he just ran fast enough to rip himself off?

What if he moved his arm back at the last second, could he gain enough inertia to pull it out of his back? Even if it took a few tries?

What other choices does he have? Perfect Five Pebbles' method until he collapses and continue even then? He had time, but not enough for that, and The Hunter certainly did not have any time for waiting around. NSH had to fix his mistake, he had to.

So this bastard goes and does exactly that, and short-circuits his entire system.

Not just breaking the umbilical maintenance barrier, but every other one in the process.

And it all hurts like hell.

But that's the first problem solved, and now he can help keep himself afloat longer. So that now, he can figure out how to solve the other two problems with precision.

Of course, the others won't like any of these plans, but, after what Five Pebbles did, they wouldn't dare disturb him if he stopped responding, right?

And maybe, he could even hijack their communications array, to look for help.

>:]

yeah so NSH is not sane

[trickstar-mcu]

Yknow what. Since I’ve got doc ock on the mind, maybe I will yap about about the spellslinger!au. Specifically, spell!Otto and Rosie :)

Since this is an au of the main mcu timeline, I’ve added Otto and Rosalie (Rosie) Octavius to it! As you could probably guess, they’re largely inspired by their Spiderman 2 iterations, but it’s more of a jumping off point than a strict rule to follow for them.

In this au, Otto’s a mix of the characters from the films, the first ps4 game and my own ideas, and Rosie is… to be honest she isn’t really much of a character in Spiderman 2, so I’ve sort of just done whatever I thought would be most interesting with her. I’ve tried to keep the core energy/vibe of her character in tact though, since for what little we do get of her I absolutely adore her and the relationship between her and Otto.

Rosie and Otto meet while Otto is working on an engineering degree at MIT. Rosie doesn’t go there, as she’s working towards a degree in English, and the two of them actually meet thanks to Tony Stark. While at MIT, Otto, Tony, Rhodey and Connors (yep, Curt Connors, though we’ll get to him another day) all end up becoming friends with each other and hitting it off despite the differences between them. 

One of Maria Stark’s friends moves to America from Australia when she’s young, along with her daughter, Rosalie. Since she doesn’t know anyone in the country and struggles to make friends with how shy she is, Maria offers to introduce her to Tony. It’s a bit of a long shot for sure, but shockingly, the two of them get along really well. It doesn’t take long for the two of them to become nearly inseparable, and they both consider the other as their unofficial sibling. Rosie’s his big sister, and he’s her little brother. Despite Tony’s reputation when he gets older, Rosie is consistently one of the closest people in his life and kind of acts as an additional moral compass for him. And Tony has nothing but respect and admiration for her, and is always trying to look out for her. They make me ill I’ll have to talk about them properly later.

Thanks to this though, Rosie slowly ends up getting dragged into the friend group as well. She tags along more often when they all get together, and she and Otto especially end up really hitting it off with each other. They become fast friends, talk a lot even when they aren’t together in person, and slowly but surely the two start to catch feelings for one another. Unbeknownst to each other, they both go to Tony for advice on how to tell the other, and he helps set up the perfect moment for them to confess to each other.

By the time college is over and they have their degrees, the two of them have been dating for a while now. They’re each other’s first real, stable relationship and they stay head over heels for each other from the moment they fall in love. They consistently do their best to support each other and be there for each other, and while they aren’t perfect, their relationship is overall a really strong and healthy one. Eventually, they end up even teaching at the same college. Otto teaches engineering and biomechanics, and Rosie teaches English. They visit each other during lectures sometimes, bringing drinks and snacks, and they both do their best to be kind and caring professors that are generally regarded as some of the best at the campus, and are definitely student favourites.

The two of them aren’t extremely well off, but they make enough money between the two of them to live comfortably and support one another. Rosie did originally come from an upper end family, but for a variety of reasons including dating Otto, she was cut off and disowned by them. It was a decision that hurts her tremendously, but one she’d choose every time, and she comes to terms with. It’s something Otto harbours a lot of guilt over as well, and it motivates him to try and be the best partner he can be, to make sure he was worth it.

Otto on the other hand came from a significantly less well off family, one with a lot of tension within it as well. He got into MIT on scholarships and incredibly hard work, busting his ass to try and make something better for himself. It was never easy for him, but he did it, and he graduated near the top end of his class. Meeting and falling for Rosie helped motivate him to do so as well. Her constant presence was like a beacon of light, she lifted the weight off his shoulders and further motivated and pushed him to achieve his dreams.

The two of them are so unbelievably, sickeningly in love it makes me want to vomit.

The two of them actually never planned on having children. They were content with their lives as they were, and while they’d discussed it a few times, they were happy as is. They weren’t entirely against the idea of having kids, they just didn’t see it as a priority. They didn’t feel like they needed a kid to make their lives feel complete.

Of course, everything changed when Rosie ended up pregnant.

Really, it was an accident. They weren’t trying to have a baby, but one thing lead to another and now here they were. They talked, and both of them were deeply shocked when they found out, but the two of them sort of just knew. She was unplanned, unexpected, but so, so very wanted and loved. And they were both ecstatic at the thought that they’d be parents now.

So, on the 9th of November 1999, Atlas Octavius was born, and Rosalie and Otto officially became parents :)

[crepes-suzette-373]

Germa and Pop Culture Villain comparisons

I think their main inspiration is the Shocker group, the villains of Kamen Rider, but someone has pointed out some Star Wars similarities too. I don't remember if this was in the manga SBS/author notes or some other side interview, but I recently saw a quote from Oda-sensei where he mentioned that one of his inspirations when creating One Piece was Star Wars, so it makes a lot of sense.

Shocker (Kamen Rider)

The eagle is the Shocker logo.

I would venture to guess it's specifically based on the "Space Shocker" iteration. The eagle looks blocky, and that even has the lightning bolt element too.

The circular table under the throne itself is based on the Shocker Alliance scene

The chunky belts and scarves of the Raid Suits looks like Shocker Riders, although sensei did seem to include Sentai elements for the multicolour look in Germa. Shocker Riders' outfits are just all the same.

Plus, in the lore the first and second Kamen Riders were actually humans that were modified to become part of the Shocker Riders. It's just that they escaped and then used their powers for good (like Sanji).

*) Incidentally, aside from my other theory about the emotion modification, all the Kamen Rider parallels is another reason why I'm mostly convinced that Sanji will be fine, even if all his mods awaken somehow.

Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

The Germa soldiers visually are somewhat similar to Clone Troopers. Especially that little "tail" on their hats. Even more so because they're both clones made with the same principle: cloning the strongest soldiers to make an army of the best fighters.

Germa didn't used to have the "66" name until whatever it was that happened 300 years ago. It's interestingly referenced as a subversion here. Order 66 was the rise of the Galactic Empire, while 66 marks the fall of the Germa Empire.

Also, Germa's "66" is actually "double six" and not "sixty six". This is kind of curious when you take into account other things. The June Rebellion that was depicted in Les Miserables was defeated in June 6 (6/6, double six), and Germa clearly has Les Mis references so... (Cosette and Eponi = Cosette and Eponine)

The circle symbol on the floor looked like the Empire symbol

Although, considering the "Galactic Republic" symbol is mostly similar to that too, I don't know if sensei got them confused, or if he is knowingly using it for Lore. I don't know much of Star Wars, but from what I had read, this is a good-leaning/neutral symbol connected to the Force.

I've had theories that Germa wasn't originally evil, so I do wonder.

I know many theorists have been really focusing on the WW2/Third Reich elements, and admittedly even in the Kamen Rider universe the Shocker members did seems to have ties to that. The same with the Star Wars Galactic Empire, which is also purposely based on the same regime.

It's just that we don't know for sure if sensei even considered that. Maybe he's just thinking of cool superheroes and scifi and wasn't particularly thinking too deeply about the real world connections. Since we don't know, I don't want to assume just because it looks like it.

It's like how originally Whitebeard's pirate mark was designed with a manji symbol ("reverse swastika") because it's a Buddhist symbol and commonly used in Japan. It's only due to consideration for international viewers it had to be changed into a "cross/plus" shape later.